[dee-dubs]

Hi there, i have looked on these forums and cant really find anything to help so hopefully there is an expert out there that can shed some light.

I have:

Pioneer DV 525 DVDplayer
Hitachi 42PDA400E
Pace STB (Telewest)
Sherwood RD-6106 (suround sound amp)

im not sure how best to connect these all up and have been left a bit confused and wondering if i have bought the wrong cables from richer sounds.

As far as i can tell the plasma will take component, s-video and composite

the dvd will output svideo and does RGB though scart

and the pace STB does RGB thru scart as well

I have been told the thing to do is connect the DVD thru the Svideo connection to the plasma (with the audio going straight into the amp via digital connection) and then connect the STB by putting a scart to composite cable in (scart gets broken into 6 leads - 2 for l and r audio in / out and video in / out).

This is what im not sure about, what do i do about sound in this situation?? do i stretch the lead so i can run the 2 audio channels into the amp, does that then mean i can only get stereo with any cable channels (does the STB do surround or is it just stereo?) or is there a better way of connecting these together?

Hoping someone can advise me better as im not convinced this is the way to go

cheers

d

[flagpole]

I have a similar setup.

Are you saying that the digibox doesn't have phono outs????

The way it should be connected is as follows:

DVD player, S-Video cable to TV, then an audio connection to the amp. ideally you want a digital optical connection here for true Dolby 5.1 or DTS.

Telewest: Set the box to RGB (i can't tell you what contempt i have for the person who told you to use comp,) use a good quality scart to connect directly to the TV. this deals with the picture.

Now the audio: Telewest uses a thing called dolby prologic (you may need to set your amp to this mode,) it is a way of getting surround sound down two audio channels. It is not as good as true 5.1, but fairly inpressive nontheless.

If your box has a set of phono outs (red and white,) then connect them to the amp.

If it doesn't then take that crazy 6-way splitter thing you have and plug the scart end into the second scart output of the digi box (labled video usu.) and connect, which ever of the red and white phonos give you sound, to the amp.

Hope that's clear, if not then ask away.

[dee-dubs]

Hi there, thank you for the info

yes the telewest box has 2 phono outputs so ill use them to go straight to the amp for sound and it is set to output to RGB at the moment.

The problem is that my plasma doesnt have a scart input...so am i only left with the option of plugging in the picture from the telewest box thru this 6way splitter thing? Is that gonna mean bad picture quality (not that telewest is the best to begin with!)

Thanks for the info on prologic, i had that on an old tv so i know it sounds pretty good, but i didnt realise it could be sent via just two phono cables as i had 6 direct outputs on the other tv.

d

[flagpole]

OK, i've never heard of a TV that doesn't have scarts and i can't find any info on the Hitachi 42PDA400E, are you sure the model number is correct.

As i sand comp is your only option.

I'm assuming that the tv has a spare S-video input other than the one we're using for the dvd.

But if you want to spend abit of money (£35) then this nifty little device will connect to the TW cable box via a scart and out put an s-video signal via a standard s-video cable.

I think it's probably worth it given the money you've spent on the tele.

You may be able to find a cheaper one, they're called 'rgb to s-video converters' unsuprisingly.

[dee-dubs]

Yeah im afraid its true, no scarts (but it's a slighty older plasma screen so i dont think its that uncommon)

Ive just realised there was a typo its a PMA400E, there is a link to a pdf review with specs <a href="http://www.whatvideotv.com/cgi-bin/displayreview.php?reviewid=2924">here</a>

so only one s-video connector too, i guess as the review said it lacks a bit of decent connectivity round the back...

im thinking maybe what i was originally advised is the only way to go now!

[dee-dubs]

on another train of thought, is there such a thing as a scart RGB to component convertor cable?

[flagpole]

Quote:

im thinking maybe what i was originally advised is the only way to go now!

Don't say that, give me a minute.

Quote:

on another train of thought, is there such a thing as a scart RGB to component convertor cable?

May be but the quality would be similar to rgb and not component

[flagpole]

You don't make life easy do you

I see you have to 15 pin RGB connectors. Never used these myself. however, this should do the trick. 50 beans though.

[dee-dubs]

lol. no, i like my TV viewing set up to be as complicated as possible !! (seriously i have doubts that my GF will ever be able to work it once i put it together..)

yeah i saw these connectors when i was looking thru the link you sent me earlier...i guess i need to research to see whether these will be better quality than the originally suggested solution of the comp conection.

I saw there was also a scart RGB connector to Y-U-V Convertor on maplin but again if there isnt much quality improvement i doubt its worth 80 notes which is a hell of a lot of money

anyone ever used any of these 2 things ?

[flagpole]

I'm fairly confident that it will be better than composite, everything is better than comp.

But i agree it's quite a lot of money, hence why i didn't mention the YUV converter.

My experience of GFs is that they tend to be able to get a picture but no sound.

You maybe able to find a cheaper one.